


Head Over Heels

by orphan_account



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80's Music, M/M, lots and lots of music references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:33:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22618666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Love! What a thrilling thing. For Mike, it begins when he decides to approach the seemingly misplaced punk-rocker with a leather jacket and the most enchanting hazel eyes he's ever seen attending the drama club party.For Will, it begins when the popular Mike Wheeler comes up to him at a party and tries to impress him but fails by stumbling over his words and using the worst pickup-line in history.
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 89





	Head Over Heels

**Author's Note:**

> Brace yourselves because I wrote about a lot of different 80s music and artists so I hope you know something about that so that this isn't too confusing. I haven't written in a while so it feels great to be back!
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated <3

Mike doesn’t spend a lot of time in the mirror before going out. He never has. Usually he just throws a pair of clothes on, brushes his teeth, makes sure he doesn’t any weird hairs sticking up out of nowhere and that he looks mildly presentable, and he always does. Then he’s out the door - whether he’ll be going to school, a friend’s house, the mall or a party. Mike has never really bothered about appearance, because no matter how he presents himself he still seems to have friends, people being nice to him, even a few girlfriends gossiping to their friends about how hot he is. So a normal drama club party for celebrating their successful premiere of _Little Shop Of Horrors_ is nothing he needs to get especially dressed up for. People will be all over him and he’ll be the centre of attention nevertheless.

Now, Mike isn’t conceited. It’s just that he got the main part of Seymour Krelborn after auditioning and beating twenty other boys in his grade for the senior play role because of his beautiful smooth voice, touching performance as well as his near stunning looks. After getting a standing ovation following his final monologue and cheers coming from every part of the Hawkins High auditorium, it was hard not to get a little bit cocky.

But it’s that little extra bit of cockiness that gets him going. With a smile on his face he kisses his mother goodbye and gets on his bike. He’s only got an address and doesn’t know much, like who is hosting, who is coming, or how many people are coming, but he knows that El and the rest of the party is already there. Mike likes making an entrance - not that anyone actually cares - and tends to come a bit later than everybody else. It’s early June and Mike is in his senior year of high school, soon to be heading off to college. He decided to please his parents and become an English major at UCLA, but is honestly thinking of dropping out sometime midterm, start taking acting classes and perhaps become a real actor one day. But until then, to anyone who asks, he loves English literature and wants to become a journalist, and sure, he does have a passion for writing and expressing himself, but deep down he feels like he belongs on the stage. Expressing himself through theatre is the only thing he knows.

And partying, perhaps. Tonight at least, it seems to be his only call in life. It takes a while and the directions are confusing but eventually Mike finds the apartment and he can instantly tell which floor it’s own considering the music can be heard from down the street. He parks his bike, runs his fingers through his hair and practically skips up the flight of stairs.

He rings the doorbell and not many seconds later, a man, dressed in heavy Frank N. Furter makeup, opens the door. ”Good evening, sir! And welcome.. To le club de théâtre's 1989 graduation party!” He looks Mike up and down. ”And who are you supposed to be?”

”Uh, I’m Mike?” He says and stands on his tiptoes, trying to look over the man’s head and find his friends who could get him out of this weird interaction.

"Didn't you get the memo? The theme is musical divas. Come dressed as Dorothy, Liza Minelli, Cher, I don't know. I've never heard of a musical diva called Mike, have you?”

Mike sighs. ”No, Ryan, sorry.” After recognizing his voice Mike finally realizes that it’s Ryan, his classmate, hiding under that striking resemblance to Tim Curry. ”You must have changed it last minute? No one told me about a theme.”

Ryan takes down a flyer hanging on the wall and points to it. ”Can you read? It says it here clearly.” And yeah, Mike realizes on the spot that he’s quite dumb.

”Alright, sorry. I didn’t see that.” He shrugs. ”But can you please let me in now?”

Ryan lets him in and utters an irritated _fine_ before Mike slides inside the apartment and into the living room. He crashes into Sally Bowles, what he thinks is Debbie Harry, and a tame attempt at John Lennon before he finally finds El.He’s pretty sure she’s dressed as Prince, a long purple kaftan hanging over the white blouse she’s wearing. It’s simple but elegant and definitely fits into the theme. Dustin is Axl Rose - a red bandana tied around his head completed with a tank top and leather bracelets hanging around his wrists. Lucas is Danny Zuko, not bothering to grease up his hair, but a tight white t-shirt, leather jacket and even tighter leather pants will do. Max has a long white t shirt and a satin band wrapped around her waist, a big yellow cat that she’s painted on herself making it obvious she’s channeling 1970’s Swedish disco music - and they all look so cool. They don’t look ridiculous at all. Mike is the one that feels weird, being the only person in there dressed in plain blue jeans, a faded yellow flannel and Converse. Despite feeling the slightest bit insecure, he taps El on the shoulder and engulfs her in a hug when she turns around. ”Hey!” She squeals and Mike says it back.

Behind them, Dustin has made an observation. ”Who are you supposed to be?”

”Look, I didn’t see the _come dressed as a musical diva_ thing on the flyer. How was I supposed to know - the text was so small!” After getting a collective disappointed look from his friends he continues. ”But you guys look great!”

El is forgiving. She puts an arm around his waist and hugs him. ”You were really good in the play today. We’ll be remembered forever in the history of this school because of the iconic musical we put up!”

”You were fantastic too, my Audrey.” He says and she smiles. Fact is, El played the role of his character’s love interest, making them both very active members of the drama club. For their last school play together, El and Mike made the rest of their friend join the production as well - Lucas working with the stage crew, Dusting making props and Max designing costumes, which all led to where they stood right now - at the drama club party.

They all chat for a while but it doesn’t take too long before El gets a strong urge to dance and they all join her. The apartment has just the right mood for dancing - good music, flashing lights coming from a cheap disco ball, and people, but not too many people, and it makes Mike slip away into a cheerful mindset where no one is watching him but everyone is all over him at the same time. Another Madonna song after another. A girl trying to find her way into his grip but all Mike wants to do is dance with Max to ”Easy Lover” alone so he ignores her. People congratulating him on his performance. A drink. Two drinks. The smell of marijuana and sweat penetrating his nostrils. El swaying her hips to a cheesy Michael Jackson song. Dustin, Lucas and himself going absolutely crazy when Bohemian Rhapsody comes on and blocking out the song with his own voice to the _”I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all”_ and surprising everyone by how falsely he sings all of a sudden.

That is until his fun-and-party mental state gets slightly disrupted. He doesn’t even notice it at first. London Calling by The Clash comes on and Mike lets out a howl. He’s heard the song on the radio before, and while he doesn’t know the lyrics or the melody or anything, it makes him feel so badass and rebellious. He just wants to smash a plate or scream ”stop the Vietnam war!” and bang his head to the music or whatever punk rockers do. Before he gets to do all those things someone switches the record to another Duran Duran song and Mike’s sense of pride is immediately gone. His friends start dancing again and most people cheer. He looks over to where the music seems to be coming from. The stereo. Next to the stereo is Ryan ecstatically reprimanding a boy with short auburn hair, a black graphic t-shirt, a leather jacket, and not the cheap kind that Lucas is sporting, and combat boots. The boy looks painfully uninterested and shrugs before walking away. Mike wants to find out more and decides to follow the boy.

The boy with the leather jacket gets a drink from the fridge and leans against the wall in an almost empty part of the apartment. As Mike approaches him he sees the boy eyeing the bookshelf filled with classic works. Hemingway. Wilde. Dostoyevsky. All names Mike has studied to convince his parents he knows something about literature. He decides on his smoothest pickup line. ”Hey there.”

The boy looks up and puts the book in his hands back into the shelf. ”Hey. Sorry, is this your apartment? I was just looking at a few of these books, I love Oscar Wilde.” He says and Mike almost loses himself in his brown hazel eyes.

”No, I don’t live here..” Mike responds and finds himself not knowing what to say. The boy looks into his eyes and tilts his head, like a silent way of asking, _so did you want anything, or?_ ”You know, I love The Clash but not as much as I love Madonna.”

He laughs. ”Thank God. Did you see that? Ryan went batshit when I changed the song. Someone must’ve gone on his nerves.”

”I’m afraid it was me.” Mike says when he realizes that the boy doesn’t seem to wear a costume either. ”I forgot about the musical divas-thing and came in just this.” He points to his clothes and catches the boy looking him up and down, but he assumes that was the point. ”And I guess you did too?”

”Yeah. I assumed makeup staff didn’t have to come dressed up.”

”Wait, you were in the production?” Mike asks, not having seen this boy before, or so he thought.

The boy shrugs. ”Yeah, I did makeup, but I don’t think I ever did it on you. I’m Will.”

Mike shakes his hand. ”I’m-”

”Mike. I know. You had the main role, after all.”

Before Mike can say anything, he finds himself blushing. This doesn’t happen! Mike never gets flustered when he gets a compliment - and that wasn’t even a compliment, it was a statement. _I know you_. ”Oh, uh, really? Huh. I, um, don’t think I know you.” Mike stumbles over his words. ”But now I do. Will, who likes The Clash and Oscar Wilde. We have a few things in common.”

Will giggles and it’s the kind of soft, depthless laugh that sounds like music to Mike’s ears. ”I like theatre too but my talents are not in acting so I decided to just stick with working behind the curtains.”

”Are you sure you never did my makeup? You look a bit familiar and to be honest whenever I was getting my makeup done I was full of nerves so it’s all kind of a blur to me.”

Will shakes his head. ”No, but I did El’s makeup. You know her, right?” He says before smacking his teeth and continuing. ”Of course you know her, you were the main characters.”

Mike laughs. ”Yeah, I know her.” He points to her, where she’s standing in the living room talking to Max. ”We’re best friends, actually. We’ve known each other since we were twelve. And those are the rest of my friends.” He points to Lucas and Dustin. ”And I’ve known them for even longer.”

”Danny Zuko, Axl Rose, Prince, Anni-Frid and plain Mike.” Will jokes and while it’s a dig at Mike, he laughs and throws his head back.

Neither of them has really paid much attention to the music under their conversation. It could barely be heard anyway. But this time, the song changes, and Will’s eyes light up. ”This song!” He beams.

”You know the Talking Heads?” Mike asks, equally as excited as Will.

”Born Under Punches? With no doubt their best song.”

Mike gets an idea. ”Lets go dance!” He says and grabs Will’s hand, dragging him to the dance floor and to his surprise he obliges with no protest. Thankfully, no one seems to be reacting the same way to this song as they did to London Calling, and everyone keeps dancing, no angry Ryan in sight. He finds his friends still going at it like they were before he left them, and puts and arm around Will.

”Hey guys!” He shouts over the music and they all turn to him. ”This is Will. He’s really cool.”

El smiles brightly and captures Will in a hug. ”Hey, Will! This is the guy who did my makeup! Indeed, he’s really cool.” She introduces them to the rest of the Party.

Mike takes Will’s hands and spins him around in a pirouette before letting go as he starts to dance. Will copies him. Mike loses himself in the music again. There’s no one around him except Will, who makes him feel all warm inside, in a weird way, like no one has before. If he was being honest, he didn’t know too much about Talking Heads, had only heard two or three songs, but like Will said, this was definitely their best one. He could listen to it forever. It seems like he might. The song never ends and he keeps dancing with his eyes locked on Will. Will moves more with his head and his shoulders, bopping along to the music, swaying graciously in a way that doesn’t allow Mike to take his eyes off of him, while Mike moves with his hips, his arms and his feet, moving his body around like a flower in the wind. They interact. Hands on each other’s shoulders, slowly making their way down to each other’s hips. Mike is feeling brave and puts his hands on Will’s jawline like they’re going to kiss. Will likes it. He smiles and flirts back. He winks. Or looks him up and down seductively. It makes Mike feels impossibly hot inside and he fears he’s going to burn up eventually if Will continues like this. It still feels like there’s no one around them.

Mike leans into Will’s ear. ”This is like, middle ground for punk rockers and theatre kids. Talking Heads.”

”Mhm.” Will mumbles as an answer, lost in his dancing. Another song comes on but they don’t stop because of that.

Mike looks into Will’s brown eyes contrasting with his pale skin and blending in perfectly with his faded freckles. The night fades, apparently you can’t dance forever and his friends force him to leave. Everyone helps with cleaning up and the music still hasn’t died down inside Mike, casually drumming his fingers on glasses and blowing into empty beer bottles, making music with Will and dancing to it. His friends thinks he’s stupid and wants him to hurry up. He kind of forgets that Will isn’t following them home, and is shocked when he says; ”I have to get home now.”

They’re standing outside the apartment and Will is walking towards the bikes, so he assumes he biked here as well. ”Well, where are you going?”

”Mirkwood.”

”Seriously? I’m going that way too, I live around the neighborhood.” He doesn’t.

El, who is standing right next to them waiting for Dustin to come outside, listens to their conversation. She is about to uncover Mike’s lie until she sees Will beaming with happiness over getting to spend a few more minutes with Mike. She lets it go. ”Mike, didn’t you want a ride?”

He shrugs. ”It’s better if I just take the bike home now. I’ll go with Will.”

Dustin comes down and starts the car up. ”Fine. But call me if you need anything. Bye Will!” She says, waves to them, steps into the car and they all drive away. Left is only Mike and Will.

”So, Mirkwood.” Will says and Mike nods, letting Will take the lead, having no idea how to get to Mirkwood and no idea how to get home.

They bike together and Mike has to try really hard to not fall over. Will is obviously fighting the same battle. It happens that they actually do fall over, and then they spend the next twenty minutes trying to get up, mockingly comforting each other and getting on their bikes again. This happens three times and it usually only takes twenty minutes to Mirkwood, but between falling over, impromptu dance battles in the middle of the road and biking exceptionally slow, it takes almost two hours.

”Shot through the heart and you’re to blame, you give loooove… A bad name!” Mike enthusiastically sings, the party still going on in his head.

Will shushes him. ”Shh.. Don’t wake my mom up.” They snicker as they pull up to Will’s house. It’s a old, small house in the middle of the woods and Mike would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little creeped out. Will throws his bike on the ground. ”So.. I had really fun tonight.”

”Me too.” Mike smiles and they become silent. Neither of them wants to leave but both have to. Will looks down on the ground. ”Come here.” Mike continues and opens his arms.

Will throws his head back, laughs, and groans in a sarcastic way before walking over to Mike and burying his face in his neck. The hug lasts for a few minutes as they try not to stumble over each other. Eventually Mike lets go and they say goodbye. Will walks towards his house but stops midway and turns around. ”What are you doing?” He says when he sees Mike standing still in his spot, watching him.

”Just making sure you’ll make it home safe.”

”My house is literally right there!”

”I know, but a werewolf could be hiding behind that tree.” Will laughs. ”Fine. I’ll leave.” Mike says and does - he gets on his bike and is just about to start pedaling away when he hears Will’s footsteps walking towards his house. He gets a sudden urge to say something, just something, anything, to get Will’s attention again. Or to make him remember him. To be fair they’re both quite drunk and perhaps this is just another normal weekend for Will, and then they won’t even notice each other in school again. Mike doesn’t want that to happen. He won’t allow that to happen.

He turns around just as Will is about to open his door. ”Hey Will!” Mike shouts and Will faces him. He puts his feet on the pedals. ”You’re hot!” He screams from a ten meter distance and quickly bikes away before Will can say anything. What an adrenaline kick! He’s never biked faster before.

What Mike doesn’t see as he speeds off is Will standing on his porch, crossing his arms as a blush spreads over his cheeks. He wants to shout it back but can’t wake up his family. What a night. The best one in a long time. Will is thankful that the only thing standing between them is a long, boring Sunday.

—

It’s funny that Mike has never seen Will before when Will sees Mike like, all the time. Maybe it’s just the aura Mike emits that makes him shine like a star and drags everyone’s eyes to him wherever he goes, but he is everywhere. He’s the guy that a group of girls is pointing to in the lunch hall so Will decides to find out what they’re whispering about. There he is, the boy with beautiful black hair, sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by people just as stunning as him. He’s the guy that says hi to damn near everyone in the corridor to the point where Will knows he is late to class when there’s no Mike accompanied by a cheery ”hey! How was your weekend?”. He’s the guy at the party everyone wants to be with. The one with the best booze, the one you let pick the music, the one who arrives late and leaves late. He’s either the guy you want to be, the guy you want to be friends with, or the guy you want to fuck the shit out of. For Will, he’s all three.

Maybe it’s no wonder Mike hasn’t noticed him yet. Will isn’t shy or anything, but he is in no matters as extroverted as Mike. He doesn’t exactly blend into the crowd with his hand-me-down denim jackets from Jonathan, flashy band t-shirts and the one piercing in his left ear, but he doesn’t exactly stand out either. He’s just there and he’s fine with that. He’s got his friends, and unlike Mike, doesn’t need constant validation from people all the time to feel confident.

But he likes him nevertheless. Maybe Will needs someone like Mike to get him to open up and feel more comfortable being himself, while Mike maybe needs someone like Will to keep his head out of the clouds.

Now that Mike knows that Will goes to his school, he spends a lot of time in the mirror before going out. Last night he even spent an extra few minutes to pick out his clothes instead of just grabbing whatever he first saw in his wardrobe. What would Will like? He thinks. While they don’t have exactly the same sense of style, Mike is sure he can come up with something. Nancy has an old Joan Jett & The Blackhearts t-shirt that he steals. They’re cool, right? It might be three sizes too small and constantly rises up over his belly button whenever he moves, but it will do. He throws a green flannel over and gets into a pair of black jeans. He spends a few extra minutes in front of the mirror - brushes his hair, realizes it looks way too fluffy, steals some of Nancy’s hairspray and experiments, washes his face with his mom’s face wash, you name it. By the time he’s done he has to run out of the house and rush to school. He’s sees his school building and it feels like the best Monday of his life. Mike is waiting for him inside those doors. Where? No idea. But he’s there somewhere and it makes Mike’s face heat.

Will knows exactly how this will happen, though. He’s gone through it in his head a few times now.He comes in, as usual, at around 8:40 and Mike passes by his locker at 8:50. He never notices him but this time Will will face him, utter a enthusiastic ”hey!” and hopefully the conversation will flow from there.

And as planned, by 8:51 Will hears a familiar ”hey Lisa! How was your weekend?” and a bit of smalltalk. _Oh, my weekend? It was great. Yeah. Yup. See you at lunch._

He turns around and sees him. Shining. Just as Mike is about to miss him Will does it; he raises a hand to wave him over and raises his voice - ”hey Mike!”

Mike scans the room the find where the familiar and longed for voice is coming from, and sees Will on his left by the lockers. ”Hi! There you are.” They smile at each other and Mike feels butterflies in his stomach. Immediately he just wants to wrap his arms around Will and joke about sex or something, but he contains himself. ”So this is where your locker is. How can I have walked past it so many times without noticing you?”

Will looks into his eyes but feels vulnerable and looks away. The first thing he notices are people walking past looking at them, wondering what the hell Mike is doing with Will, or more commonly _”what’s his name? The punk guy with one earring. Is he gay or what?”._ Let them look, he thinks. Literally who cares. ”Well, I literally stood next to you while doing El’s makeup for the play and you didn’t even notice me then, so what do you want me to say.”

”Seriously? I feel bad. Sorry, Will.” He says and puts a hand on Will’s shoulder, rubbing it in comfort.

”I’m just kidding. It’s no big deal.” He shrugs. ”You did notice me at the party thanks to Ryan and my _horrible_ taste in music.”

Mike laughs. He looks over at the clock and realizes it’s soon nine. ”Hey, I’ve gotta go. I need to talk to mister Clarke about an assignment I don’t understand. But uh, I don’t know if we have the same lunch period but if we do, come sit at my table?”

Will nods. ”Yeah.”

”Good. See you around, Will.” Mike smiles and walks away. When he has his back turned to Will he flashes an even bigger grin. Perhaps it wasn’t as much time as he wanted to spend with Will, but it was a little. And it was great.

Will already knows they have the same lunch period. Oh, the many times he has sat at his table staring over at Mike’s. He now knows that he’s very welcome to join them, but decides not to abandon his friends.

He gets to their table first but not long after that Cleo and Mia comes too, and a while later Benjamin decides to join them as well. They all met in second grade and have been inseparable ever since, so Mike’s story about how he’s known El since middle school didn’t impress him much. They’re all best friends but are at the same time so different from each other - Cleo is in the school band and wants to be a classical pianist, Mia is the editor of the school newspaper, Benjamin is a science nerd who is bound to find the cure for cancer or something and Will, well, he’s the art kid. And yet they get along so well.

The first thing Benjamin utters after sitting down isn’t a normal ”hi” or ”how are you?”, it’s ”Will, _what_ did you do this weekend?”

He almost has to think for a second. They already knew about the party he was going to, why was he asking? ”Uh, I went to that drama club party, was all.”

”Are you sure? Because, no offense, but there is a rumor going around you hooked up with Mike Wheeler.”

Will just furrows his eyebrows but Cleo nearly spits out her drink. ”Seriously? And you didn’t tell me!”

”Hey hey hey, it’s just a rumor.” He explains. ”But no, I didn’t hook up with Mike Wheeler.”

”But something happened, correct?” Mia asks.

Will looks over at Mike’s table and his friends do too. Mike is wearing a Joan Jett t-shirt. That’s funny, he thinks. Didn’t think he was into that stuff. It’s way too tight but honestly just shows off Mike’s toned chest and rosy nipples in the most flattering way. Will looks back at his friends. ”We talked, and we danced. Then he followed me home but that was really it.”

Cleo scoffs. ”That was really it?” She mocks him. ”Will, this is _the_ Michael Wheeler you’ve had a crush on since ninth grade!”

”Not true!”

”We all know it’s true, Will.” Benjamin says, encouraging him to tell the truth.

”Fine.” He admits. ”But it’s not like I’m in love with him. Everyone in this school has a crush on Michael Wheeler.”

”Does he like you back?”

Will shrugs. ”As a friend, yeah. Do you guys know how many girls he’s dated? He’s not gay. He’s not like me.” He says, leaving out some crucial details of that night.

”There’s a thing called bisexual, you know.” Mia reminds him. ”I think you should go for it. Spend some time with him, and if he seems into you, then go for it.”

Maybe he will.

Mike hears the rumor as well. Lucas heard it from his basketball teammate, Dustin from a girl in his physics class, Max from her neighbor and El from none other than Ryan himself. They get asked about it a lot because everyone knows they’re Mike’s friends and no one is brave enough to ask Mike himself. Not a lot of people believe it but it’s so absurd that it spreads around the school like a wildfire. Why would _Mike_ hook up with _Will_? And who even is Will? - the point is that it’s a _boy’s_ name, and everyone knows that Mike isn’t gay.

He doesn’t even really get where these allegations come from. Sure they danced and all, but Mike has danced with Lucas, Dustin and even Ryan countless of times and no one has batted an eye. His friends, however, have their suspicions.

”Look, I know that you like to get lost in the moment, but people are still watching you.” Max explains.

”And?” Mike is still clueless.

”And, you guys were practically grinding on each other and making out in front of everyone.” Lucas chimes in.

”Okay, I think that’s a bit exaggerated, Lucas.” El interrupts them. ”But you guys were pretty intimate. Like, hugging and touching and whispering. I understand that someone might have thought you were a couple or something, but perhaps hooking up is a bit extreme.”

”Hooking up is what couples do.” Max says. ”And I think it’s what Mike and Will will do soon.” She makes a ring with her thumb and index finger and puts her other index finger into it, teasing Mike.

”Okaaay, Max, enough.” He groans. ”I’m not so sure about that. I asked him to sit at our table today but he’s right there!” He points over to the table where Will is sitting with his friends.

The Party turn around to take a look at them. ”Look, he’s with his friends. He can’t just leave them.” El explains.

Just as they’re all observing them Mike sees one of Will’s friends whisper something to him and he turns around. Their gazes meet and Mike waves awkwardly. Will gives him ”the nod” before turning back around. ”Oh god, that was embarrassing.” He sighs.

”You know, he’s pretty cute.” El smiles. ”I think you should go for it.”

”Really?” Mike asks.

They all nod enthusiastically.

—

They see each other all the time now. It’s even hard _not_ to notice each other when Will just seems to pop out of nowhere wherever Mike goes - the cafeteria, the hallways, waiting outside a classroom or standing alone on the school parking lot seemingly doing nothing. Mike always goes up to Will to talk and while he is about anxious about coming off as annoying, he really wants to be with him and Will doesn’t seem to mind. They chat about anything but school. They immediately search for each other’s gazes when someone says something weird and they try to hold in their snickers together as their eyes meet. Will talks about music. Mike responds by dropping a comment about the very little things he knows about music.

_”Oh, I love The Smiths-”_

_”Yeah, Unknown Pleasures is such a good album!”_

Will just laughs.

They tease each other when meeting in the corridors. No one understands why they’re doing it, least of all the people who can’t consider themselves a friend of theirs; it’s just that, this friendship seems so unlikely. No one knows how they met or how their relationship spiraled from evidently hooking up at a party to this playful, tongue in cheek, two-guys-platonically-flirting kind of relationship. Not that they mind. Their quick conversations that are just fleeting moments that last ten seconds as they pass each other in the hall usually goes something like this;

_”Hey Oscar Wilde!”_

_”Hey Seymour.”_

_”Please remember, whatever you do - do not play The Clash in this school. You will get kicked out.”_

_”It’ll be you and me and David Byrne, then.”_

_”Who?”_

_”Talking Heads.”_

_”Oh. See ya!”_

_”Bye.”_ \- and it’s entertaining.

__

Mike feels like wherever he goes _Don’t Stop Me Now_ is playing in his head. He’s just that damn happy. Weirdly enough. He loves his friends and all, but they don’t ever make him feel this way. Neither did any of his old girlfriends. And Will is only a friend that he’s hung out with once and have known for a week!

Will didn’t know how he ended up like this - waving, shouting, making perfect small talk - it wasn’t him. It definitely wasn’t his trademark. But it was Mike in a nutshell, who made friends with everybody, loved everybody and cherished being loved by everybody. The weirdest thing was that apparently Will was interesting enough according to Mike to be worth talking to several times a day for a week now. At least it was a bit of a confidence boost on his side. _Mike. Mike!_ Will’s Mondays weren’t blue anymore, they were the color of Mike, which was the sound of cheery laughter, obvious but failed attempts at impressing him which threw his heart for a whirlwind, stomped on it then kissed it gently, and blue Converse, white band t-shirts who had been bought at the local thrift store, brown kind eyes and black unruly hair.

And Will, though he may not show it, is a romantic at heart. He wants picnics in the park and handholding and gifts wrapped with a cute pink bow and improvised romantic dinners in the kitchen complete with a checkered tablecloth and candles and a cheap bottle of wine. Everything Mike does is romantic. He’s a natural. He can take page out of Animal Farm when reading out loud in English class and turn it into a wailing concerto of dancing letters graciously leaving his lips. Then what’s a little bouquet of red roses on Valentine’s Day? No challenge for Mike!

Oh, this crazy little thing called love. If you can call it that. Yet.

—

It’s a Wednesday evening after school when Mike and his friends spend the night together at the lake. Graduation is coming up at a rapidly fast pace and it’s finally hot enough to swim in the water. They’ve already been there for a few hours and they, tired of getting wet, all sit on the dock soaking in the sun.

And El asks. They haven’t run out of topics or anything, it just seems to be the only thing they talk about nowadays. ”How many percent do you like Will, Mike?”

He shrugs and lets out an irritated sigh. ”I don’t know. I haven’t even kissed him yet, let alone gone on a date or something.”

”So like.. 80 percent?”

”Oh, it’s much more than that! 95 percent.” Lucas chimes in.

”Have you guys seen him? With his big heart eyes?” Max laughs. ”It’s like, 99.9 percent.”

Dustin gives him a pat on the back. ”Look at him! You know how they say your pupils go wide when you think about someone you love? Well he looks like he’s done twenty lines of coke. I think that makes up for the 0.1 percent.”

They all laugh. ”I don’t think that’s factually correct.”

”Whatever, the point is that you’re in love! Ask him out, ask him out, ask him out!”

Mike looks off into the distance, his gaze meeting the other side of the lake. Ask him out. Could it be that simple?

—

It happens at a party the following Friday. That’s what Mike tells himself. It will happen at a party this Friday! He will ask Will out! - if his bravery lasts all throughout the night.

Will invites him to a party with his friends from the art club. It’s all Morrissey, David Bowie and intellectual conversations and while Mike does feel a bit unfamiliar with the mood of the party, he soon realizes that the artsy kids know how to get down. Properly. It’s all unusual mixtures of drinks that turn out to taste really good (it’s a secret recipe, of course), people dancing to Joy Division and The Doors and other slightly depressing bands, seemingly having the time of their lives, and Mike weirdly enough fits just right in. One of the first parties he’s attending without his friends, but Will feels like a shield who can protect him from whatever dangers he may encounter. I mean, he’s been here for twenty minutes and has already seen not one, but two people swallowing some pills while listening to Tears For Fears and they turned out to be some of the funniest people he’s ever met! It may seem depressing and perhaps it’ll be in the morning but right now everyone is just surviving on the feeling of happiness - and Mike is drunk on love.

Mike can’t keep his eyes off of him. Will just looks so pretty tonight. He always does, of course, but especially tonight. Perhaps it’s the apple juice-vodka mixture he drank, the way Will’s hair blows in the wind when he’s standing on the balcony holding back the hair of one of his friends throwing up, Mike’s internal monologue of _I’m going to ask him out tonight. That look he just gave me - he definitely likes me back!_ or just Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode playing in the background, but Mike feels good about this.

Will feels good about this too. He introduces Mike to his friends and they all love him even more after talking to him. It’s a party after all, and Will loses Mike in the crowd of people dancing to Sex Pistols after a while and finds himself alone with Cleo, the one of his friend who has pushed their relationship the most. She has a sparkle in her eye. ”You should see how he looks at you.”

He scoffs. ”No, seriously. I hope you brought a condom or two.” She continues and Will throws his head back and sighs.

”It’s not like that.” He says.

”Oh, come on. It’s quite obvious he likes you.”

”Haven’t you fathomed the fact that perhaps he just doesn’t like me? And if that’s the case - then that’s fine! Not everyone has to like me.”

Cleo raises one of her eyebrows. ”You’re right Will, not everyone has to like you, but you need some confidence. If Mike isn’t in love with you, then love simply isn’t real!”

Will groans. ”Whatever. I can’t even find him right now.”

A silence starts to grow between them, Will alone with his thoughts and Cleo waiting for him to admit that he’s wrong. He aches for the truth - is Mike actually giving him such lustful looks which is secret code for _I love you_ in a language that only he and Cleo seems to be fluent in, or is his friends just trying to cheer him up by pretending this pathetic crush of his may actually be mutual?He doesn’t know and with Mike nowhere in sight there’s no possible way to find out either.

Cleo knows Will a bit too well and knows exactly how to break him out of his mind prison. ”Don't, don't you want me?” She sings along to the stereo and immediately Will laughs. ”You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me..”

”Don't, don't you want me?” He hums and they grab each other’s hands, making their way to the dance floor.”You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me..”

_Don't you want me, baby?_

_Don't you want me? Oh_

Will shakes his shoulders to the music and synchronizes his movements with Cleo. Mike is standing on the opposite side of the room, chatting with a few people from his school. He doesn’t even know if they’re friends of Will’s because when he casually namedrops him they don’t seem to react and while they’re nice and all, he can’t wait to get out of this conversation. Will is right there, dancing, and Mike doesn’t currently have his hands on his hips or anything. It makes him jealous. No one else is even touching him - except Cleo of course, but she’s just a friend - but still, something inside Mike makes him feel all possessive. Like Will is his. He isn’t, obviously, but by the end of the night he will be - if all things go according to the plan.

He excuses himself from the conversation and casually makes his way over to Will, having to stop several times because different people all want to dance with him, but eventually finds Cleo and taps her on the shoulder. She turns around and smiles, beaming a ” _hey! We thought we had lost you!”_ that catches Will’s attention as he looks up and finds Mike right in front of him.

”Of course not, I was just talking to some people.”

”Well, speaking of uh, people..” She says and scans the room for someone she knows. ”I was just about to go say something to Mia. Benjamin told me to pass on a message to her, so uh.. I’ll leave you guys to it.” She continues and disappears off the floor, leaving Mike and Will staring awkwardly into each other’s eyes.

Will is relieved but nervous at the same time. It feels great to finally be alone with Mike, but considering Cleo’s endless pep talks about asking him out he feels like he’s got to make a decision. To ask him out or not. Of course he wants to, more than anything, but how true could it be that Mike was just a walking pair of heart eyes whenever Will was near? He doesn’t know what to say, so he settles on a simple ”hey”.

”Hey. This place is pretty cool - and the music is great!” Mike beams and whatever pint of nervousness that entered Will’s body when he locked eyes with Mike is now gone, seeing his kind smile, knowing he always means well and wants to make him happy.

”It is, isn’t it?” He says and starts bopping his head, swaying it sideways to the music and snapping his fingers. Mike copies him but in a bit more frantic way. Will follows the beat of the drums while Mike listens to the fast techno beat, moving his feet to the rhythm, spinning around, throwing his hands in the air; Mike carries the music throughout his body while Will captures it in his head. However, Mike has a big influence on Will and makes his body shimmer with glistening sweat and teary eyes after getting lost in fits of laughter and dancing for what seems like an eternity.

So they’re having a good time. Everything feels as perfect as it always does when they’re together. Mike forgets everything around him, all his thoughts and the only thing he focuses on is Will - his rosy cheeks, his lips mouthing the words to the song, and his hands caressing his jaw. Nothing else is important. While it does feel amazing being this lost in the moment, perhaps Mike should have thought about the fact that he should put his drink down before dancing in the middle of a crowd full of teenagers going crazy to the tune of some Blondie song - but he doesn’t, and not soon after laughing at Will’s Debbie Harry joke that he doesn’t even understand, someone bumps into him. It’s inevitable. His hand betrays him and he loses the grip of his red solo cup. The cup flies forward and lands directly on Will.

If Will thought nothing could break him out of this dancing-with-Mike-trance, he’s proven otherwise. A cold substance meets his torso and the first thing he sees is Mike’s shocked expression and wide eyes which soon turns into a pleading look of regret and absolution. ”Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

Will smiles. Of course he’s not upset - it was just a mistake, but Mike looks like he’s afraid Will will burst into flames of anger. ”It’s okay.”

”Come with me.” Mike says and grabs his hand, dragging him off the dance floor. Will doesn’t know where they’re going, but he follows.

Turns out he was leading him into the bathroom. Mike locks the door and Will takes a look in the mirror. The damage is minimal - thankfully Mike was only drinking a small glass of vodka and apple juice, staining his white t-shirt with see-through specks of what looks like water. It really only got on half of his upper torso, so the only thing Will will have to do is throw it into the washing machine when he gets home and it’ll look brand new again.

He looks over at Mike who is standing behind him, frantically taking his shirt off. Will’s eyes widen. ”What are you doing?”

Mike looks up. ”You can take my t-shirt and I’ll just wear my flannel closed instead.” He says as he throws his flannel on the floor.

He is just about to pull his t-shirt over his head when Will interrupts. ”Mike, it’s fine. It barely even got on me.”

”I insist.” He says as he takes his shirt off, displaying his beautiful pale chest. Will looks him up and down, thinking about the absurdity of this situation - _he is literally shirtless in the same room as me_ \- but has to snap back to reality when Mike hands him the shirt. ”Here.”

Will holds it in his hand for a few seconds before realizing that Mike is still standing there shirtless, looking at him. He snaps out of it and takes his own shirt off and for a blink of a moment they’re standing half-naked together in the same room, the thought of it making Will feel all tingly inside as he pulls the shirt over his head, the smell of Mike entering his nostrils. This feels like a tiny bit of romance - sharing clothes!

It’s quiet in the bathroom with the exception of faded music being heard through the thin door. Mike takes his time buttoning up the flannel. He looks so beautiful. And he’s so kind. And who cares if he rejects him - it’s less than a week until graduation and then they’re both going to college - so Will makes a decision.

”Mike?”

”Mhm?”

He doesn’t even take a deep breath or prepare himself or something - he just goes for it. ”Do you want to go on a date with me?”

Mike wonders if he had heard it right - did _Will_ just ask _him_ out on a date? Things are not going according to plan. The plan was that by the end of the night he would ask Will out, and it would all work out perfectly. Is this causing a commotion in his plan? What will he even answer? He’d only have time to worry about what _Will_ was going to say, not what _he_ was going to say.

But it’s all just a huge relief to Mike. He wants to shout it over the rooftops; his mind is going _yes, please yes, of course I want to go on a date with you, you oblivious fool!_ but contains himself, for a minute at least. ”Yeah. Of course I want to go on a date with you.”

Will’s tension leaves his body. ”Really?”

”Yeah. More than anything else.”

They smile at each other, then none of them know what to say and it turns quiet. ”Say something else! Our love story can’t be that simple.”

Mike laughs. ”Simple?”

”I mean, we met at a party, hit it off immediately, then I ask you out and you say yes. There’s literally no tension here!”

”Do you want tension?” Mike asks.

”Maybe..” Will answers, teasing him.

Mike takes a step closer to Will so that they’re standing just a few inches away from each other’s faces, and takes his hand in his. ”Well.. How about this?”

”This is good.” Will whispers.

”And this?” Will sinks into the pair of lips above him and closes his eyes. Mike cups his hand on Will’s jawline and pulls him closer. They both feel like they’re on fire but in a good way - they’re burning up, but at least they’re burning with desire. He presses his lips to Mike's and just as he is about to pull away Mike just pulls him back in. Neither of them knows how long this lasts, a few seconds or fifteen minutes, but eventually it comes to an end. Their lips separate but Will keeps his hand on Mike’s face. He runs his fingers through Mike’s thick, uncombed hair and it hurts but Mike lets him.

_Romance!_ So this is romance - and it’s exceeded his expectations by a million times!

”Wow.” Is all Will can come up with.

Mike giggles into Will’s neck, Will putting a soothing hand on the back of his head. They stand like this for a few seconds, wallowing in the feeling of having stars in their eyes. Mike looks up and they kiss again, which feels like the most natural thing ever. ”So, what will we do on our first date?”

”You decide.” Will says.

He doesn’t even need to think about it. ”You can come to my house and I’ll cook you dinner.”

Oh, Will just _swoons_. Mike really is romance - everything he does shows it, from spilling a drink all over him and kissing him in a bathroom at a party, to inviting him over to his house for a romantic home dinner.

They kiss and kiss and kiss - but eventually someone knocks on the bathroom door demanding they get out. This doesn’t stop them and they just move to the dance floor, where the music is booming, the people are dancing and the yellow fairly lights are shining dimly, making it hard for them to keep their eyes off of each other. Cleo, Mia and Benjamin all stand in the corner watching them with a smile on their lips. Everyone else in the room is watching them too but with less judgement than Mike’s theatre friends, and this time no one can start spreading any rumorsbecause it seems pretty clear that Mike and Will are in fact a couple.

Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears come on. It’s really the closest thing to a love song anyone’s heard this evening at this party filled with rock music, angsty teenagers and dread over growing up and graduating. But right now the only thing that matters in Mike’s mind’s eye is Will - not a particular part of him, just everything. Love! What a funny, simple thing it could be.

Will tunes everything out and just listens to Mike’s hums of approval when he kisses him back gently, but the resonating text of the song seems to break it’s way through anyway.

_I wanted to be with you alone_

_And talk about the weather_

_But traditions I can trace against the child in your face_

_Won't escape my attention_

_You keep your distance with a system of touch_

_And gentle persuasion_

_I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much?_

_Oh, you're wasting my time_

_You're just, just, just wasting time_

_Something happens and I'm head over heels_

_I never find out till I'm head over heels_

_Something happens and I'm head over heels_

_Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart_

_Don't, don't, don't throw it away_


End file.
